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At the beginning of the eight-week trial, 67 adult volunteers underwent a battery of cardiovascular-function tests, including heart rate, blood pressure, MSNA (muscle sympathetic nerve activity), and blood flow through the forearm and calf.

(MSNA is part of the “fight or flight” response to stress. Increased MSNA is a response to congestive heart failure, and eventually leads to further worsening of cardiac function.)

These tests were performed under two different scenarios:

When the volunteers were at rest.

While they were performing a mental arithmetic test and the investigator encouraged them to hurry … a situation designed to yield mental and emotional stress.

Both groups had comparable results when their cardiovascular functions were tested when the subjects were at rest.

The study subjects were divided into two roughly equal groups, each assigned to a different supplement regimen for eight weeks:

Fish oil to (9 grams per day

Olive oil placebo (9 grams per day).

The study was “blind”, so none of the volunteers knew which supplement they were taking.

After eight weeks, the subjects repeated the same cardiovascular function tests.

Compared with the volunteers who took olive oil, those who took fish oil had milder responses to mental stress.

The fish oil group displayed advantages, including milder heart rate, MSNA, and calf blood flow reactions to mental stress … but no change in their blood pressure response to mental stress.

As the researchers wrote, “These findings support and extend the growing evidence that fish oil may have positive health benefits regarding neural cardiovascular control in humans.” (Carter JR et al. 2013)

The results might eventually help doctors prevent heart disease in select populations.

Presumably, the people who’d benefit most would be those under special stresses … such as caregivers, people in high-stress jobs, and people with type A personalities plus anger issues.